So its been over a week since the festival came to an end and all that hard work we had put into that calendar day is now history. So what are we doing now? Working on getting that food truck. At first our business plan called for us to simply work the local farmer’s market and food festival circuit (good news to all those who have had that ever so addictive first taste of the Sweet Potato Pie Waffle with the Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce) for the next 18 months. Well, it looks like some events have conspired to aid us in our acquisition of the Truck 16 months ahead of schedule. We will be looking at our facilitator on Wednesday. Meanwhile back on the ranch…our resident mad scientist/executive chef Pinky has been working on her new pancake recipe: Blue Velvet. It tastes as good as it looks. Our thoughts are to unveil this creation to the masses at our next event in addition to the Waffle. We have had such great support from you (information about farmer’s markets in your areas, requests for jobs, and the like), we are humbled and overwhelmed. But do know that we are more than persuaded to meet your requests and exceed your taste buds’ expectations. Do not hesitate to let us know about events in your area. We are looking to make as large an impact as our time and resources will allow. Our team is in place and ready, and we are motivated. Food’s on! Life is short…eat something memorable.

Why would a person stand in line for over 30 minutes for one bite to eat? I can’t understand this thought process for the life of me. Maybe its terminal sensibility (I may not have a doctorate, but I have a masters in common sense). What I did learn about the Street food crowd is that a name is what they follow. The crowd followed the well known trucks, good news for them, Pinx is now officially on the Street Food scene! The three best practices that were stressed to us by La Cocina, the organizers of the event, were to maintain a line but to also be efficient enough to serve within 15 seconds, and to not run out of food. With that in mind we enlisted two of the greatest logistical minds in the food preparations business (at least that we know) to become our de-facto COO and Operations Manager, Jelani Tribble and Alisa Askins. These two were AWESOME! After many nights and days and meetings and naps, we were able to make our line so efficient we served our customers hot food within 5 seconds of them providing our plate control person their order ticket. We were able to serve up until the end of the event without a hitch. I mean WOW! We were able to move the line, so the patrons could enjoy their day and try other bites. Mind you not only did we consistently hear that our waffle was the best thing that people had tried all day, but we also had many repeat customers! We easily left a mark on the Festival, not only have we been mentioned favorably in many Yelp reviews for the event, and been favorably reviewed in the SF Examiner but the quality of our product, the friendliness of Team Pinx (the greatest team EVER), the fluidity of our operations stood out, and we were rookies to this event. The most rewarding thing we saw though always came within 3 seconds of a person’s first bite of the waffle. Without fail you could see the effect the experience made on a person. I promise it looked as if they were hearing color or seeing sound: Priceless! Pictures are forth coming. The great news is this event has put a new fire in us to step up our timetable to bring the Southern Gourmet to you sooner than we originally planned. Keep your eyes, ears, and internet feelers out, the waffle and other tastebud goodness is on its way to you. Life is Short…Eat Something Memorable.

In the beginning (sounds very bibilcal doesn't it) there was a love of food. “Chef” Pink and I had our first “date” at a well known Hawaiian Spot in the City after all — I won’t even tell you how much she made me invest in our relationship… and for lunch no less! We then began our restaurant hopping until we found our favorite Sushi spot in the bay (I can’t eat Sushi anywhere else now. I would tell you where it is, but I do want to still be able to find a table when I go there), the greatest Thai restaurant in the City, many a steak house, and the restaurant that inspired Pinx lamb dish — she had theirs and then created a dish which was BETTER…in the words of Brian Wilson and/or Charlie Sheen WINNING! So to long story short you, we love food. we love it so much that the progression to food professionals, did not seem like so much of an incredible leap. Who knew that this leap of passion, would come with LOGISTICS? I’m not talking about FedEX or UPS get it there on time type logistics, but this is more Lean Manufacturing Six Sigma Black Belt Logistics. In food you say? In food I say. From the time we won the contest, there has been a palpable fear that this “informal food vendor” – industry speak for home cook — would be unable to provide the product in the numbers to meet the demand of the Foodie Horde. Truth be told, with no point of reference we had a degree of trepidation as well. But the more we meet with the organizers and our own team of support staff (yes we have support staff) the less I fear.

True, this is our first foray into the food festival/ street fair market. True, there are always glitches in operations. True, the event organizers have no point of reference when it comes to our work and or experience. But there are other things we bring to the table. Also true, our support staff has over 63 combined years of food service logisitics, providing hundreds of thousands of meals yearly and an average age of 40. True, our team has College Degrees and Credentials in Food and Operations. True, everyone in Pinx has a background in Lean Manufacturing and Just in Time. True, Pinx is the winner of the Vote for your Vendor Contest. True, Pinx is a mystery. And most importantly, THIS IS THE GREATEST ADVANCEMENT IN WAFFLE TECHNOLOGY SINCE THE INVENTION OF THE WAFFLE IRON. When you are trying to rewrite the book on how things are done and what is real, you can’t let others define you and the rules you play by.So when we had our meeting with the event organizers earlier this week, it went swimmingly. When they saw our preparations, our stats,and our layouts of the work flow, they wanted copies to provide to other vendors: awe and amazement. Gotta love it. So the festival is just two days away. Everything is going to come to pass in 48 short hours. We’ll be picking up our banner and T-shirts today. Meeting with our production team tonight and doing a dry run at our secret undisclosed location. Tomorrow we’ll be getting our rest because on Saturday August 20, 2011, our world will forever be changed. Did I mention, news media will be there as well? Nervous? Not so much…it’s gameday and we are about to come out of the tunnel. And just like gameday we spent all week preparing for it going over every contingency and permeation of what will and can happen. I can’t wait. We did our homework and the food will be wonderful! Looking forward to seeing you there.

The pies are baking, the batter is blending, and the air is filled with the so many conversations. The comedy value alone of the team in action is worth the price of admission. So I came to the top secret Waffle Cave where the blindfolds have come off the help and the team of 20 was in the kitchen, commiserating and conversing. Now I am an interesting super, I like to see action, work, and worthwhile activity. But what I am seeing is a crowd of supporters, all who were involved in helping us win the contest outright. Can’t be a task master, so I went to the store to make that last grocery run. Picked up some additional supplies and as my manner is, I found an opportunity to talk to someone in line with me. She LOVED the description of the waffle, like everyone does. I don’t know what it is about this particular combination of flavors that everyone and I mean everyone I meet and tell about this, just drools over the words as they flow from me. This is the reason why I have no fear of us being successful at the event. But I digress…. So we are in the Waffle Cave. The laughter is almost deafening. I have come to the conclusion that the plans we made are not going to come to fruition tonight. But I can’t even be mad. I appreciate all y’all that came tonight to cut pies, wash dishes, measure flour, and convert eggs into cups. I will understand your language someday…or not. This is a good crew. The FOG is thick in here! It was cool to watch us all working together like an army of African Ants where everyone was moving in their own row, making whatever they were making. Or we were like Beavers everyone doing their part to build the dam. Have you ever noticed that, beavers never get mad at one another when they are building? No other beaver comes by to say that twig doesn’t go there, or to question what are you doing? I love that type of unity: everyone working together to accomplish the goal. Everyone knowing what they have to do, and being empowered to do it. That’s the type of business this will be. And the beautiful thing is, that we are already starting off on the right footing. In 36 hours we will be unleashing sweet potato pies on the bay area; no, the world (evil laugh with pinky finger turned to corner of the mouth). Are you ready? It smells good. Life is short…eat something memorable.

Today was CRAZY! First of all both Pink and I are still working our full time jobs (employees by day) while we scour the rooftops and internet for admins and others who are looking for catering solutions (dynamic duo of catering by night). So today was the fruit of this way of life. We had a gig today — which went swimmingly I must say — for which we were working into the wee hours of the morning (about 3AM) to make sure we had everything in order. The menu? Jambalaya, Candied Yams, Our Country Tis of Thee Potato Salad, Our standard mixed green salad, and the Heavenly (crack) Rolls.

For the record the client had an employee appreciation BBQ and offered us the opportunity to provide sides. We gladly met the offer with this selection. The reviews were unanimous…now if you are reading this you no doubt have to question my objectivity on this subject matter, heck I would if I were you, but the reality is I did the garbage can test.

When you ask a patron or customer how was the food or how was their experience, they will almost always say something favorable, even when they are in fact unhappy with the food or the service or some other aspect of the experience. The garbage can however will never lie to you. When you see how much food is thrown away and what is thrown away, you can get the message clearly of what is liked and what is disliked. Today the cans were SILENT.

The crew — to the amazement of the client — mauled the mixed green salad, inhaled the jambalaya, and eviscerated the candied yams. One of the ladies in Admin remarked, she would definitely be calling us to cater her wedding. Even by her accounts that is 10 years away, but we like the sound of that. All in all it was a good day. I am certain that we will be solicited again to provide food.

Now that this job is finished though it is time to turn our complete and undivided attention to the San Francisco Street Food Festival. We just completed a logistics meeting with our team. We have the greatest team on the planet. On the kitchen logistics side, our team 3 consultants on retainer with ServSafe Certifications and over 50 years of experience helped us put together plans and contingency plans to create over 3000 waffles. We are well aware that no one planned or expected us to win the vote, let alone be able to handle the logistics of this situation. Though this is our first food festival it is not our first rodeo. And given our driven natures, we want to show what all those people voted for to the rest of the San Francisco Street Food World. Are you ready? Drink your water, do your crunches now. After you partake in our creation, you will either sleep or quit your diet…and it will have been worth it. Life is short…eat something memorable.

Reality is getting so real. So we are just a scant 9 days away from the festival and the logistics and the menu testing ideas and plans are all flying hard and heavy. We do not have a lot of time left before the single greatest advance in waffle technology and taste is revealed to the world. And as we are working late into the night again — this seems to be our manner now, mild mannered employees by day, and driven entrepreneurs by night — ironing out the kinks in our production/and preparing for our job tomorrow afternoon, we have so much for which we are just thankful. First of all we are people of faith, so we are thankful to our creator. Nuff said. After that we have to thank our friends for their help, and support. We have to thank Wells Fargo and their representatives. We thank all those who voted for us and made us the outright winner of the 2011 San Francisco Street Food Festival Vote for Your Vendor Contest…I believe that the win shocked and amazed even the event organizers. We have to thank La Cocina, without them we would not have the vehicle to bring our creation to so many people at once.

Life is good! Every day we are above ground and breathing is a good day. We have to make the best out of it. When it is our time to “check out” we don’t want to have any regrets. And I must say that starting this business with my wife, is definitely a thing that I am very happy to be doing. She has an incredible talent, and I am so very proud of her and what she does. I mean I am bragging on her any opportunity I get — is this hubris? She has a gift and I love sharing it with folks, so why not do it on a grand scale? The fact that she is on board with the idea — no doubt because she can do what she loves and we can bring people together while doing it — is great. So the moral of this random stream of consciousness is I love my wife, I am thankful for the opportunity that we have to share our Frankenstein Monster with the world — or at least San Francisco’s Foodie nation. The festival is just a little over a week away, and…Life is short…eat something memorable.

So this whole catering thing started with the prodding— no that’s no quite it; prodding implies there was some gentleness to it — or prompting — nahh– I know, COERSION of a few dear friends. I must admit that now I appreciate them. Pinky and I were happy just having people over 10-27 at a time, but as the crowds grew and her culinary wizardry expanded to meet my eclectic creativity (the Sweet Potato Waffle…my idea her execution), we found that what we had going on was something akin to an indie rock band playing in all the little venues until the demand draws them into the mainstream. So here we are on the cusp of the first time we enter the studio of our new label waiting to cut that quadruple platinum track, and in comes a reporter. Now I don’t have anything against the fourth estate. As a matter of fact, I dabbled a bit in my formative years in the business. But all we want to do is make hits (in the kitchen not music, follow the metaphor and the stream of consciousness)! So here is something that has come over the wire.http://www.ileftmycartinsf.net/2011/07/small-business-winners-of-sf-street.html I am certain there is more to come. Stay tuned, we’ll be bringing those hits to you. Life is short…eat something memorable.

At the end of an event there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the faces of all the guests (and the client) silent, full of food, smiling, or giving the rolls the “oh no they didn’t” face. Today we saw nothing but “oh no you didn’t”faces over and over with every sampling of the rolls. I think we need to hurry up and finish that patent on this recipe before its too late. But I digress, the crowd today was very happy with the menu. Pink should never doubt her talent. The back of the house is in great shape as long as she is in the kitchen doing her thing. We brought out a new fish recipe today for the Tilapia— largely because it was a good compliment to the rest of the menu — and the fish was the first chaffing dish we had to replenish! Truth be told I was expecting the rolls or the pulled pork sliders to fly off the table, but the fish? Bonus! Perhaps we will find a new crowd pleaser with every event. How cool would that be? The lamb put us on the map. The sirloin gave us a zip code. The rolls, they made us a destination. Now the fish had made us something nice. I think the move to do this catering thing for real was a good one. Watch out world the truck/restaurant will be on coming sooner than we initially thought. A special thanks to our “crew”. We couldn’t have done it without you. You helped us prep. You were there to work with Pink in the kitchen and me with my project manager. Then you stood up and were counted today in the heat of the fire. Appreciate you all. Life is short…eat something memorable.

So, I have no idea how all this happened so quickly. One day we are just having get togethers sharing what we love — conversation, Sequence, stories, sushi, lamb, pork chops and the like — and then we made the critical error of having breakfasts and brunches. Now when a few folks were coming over for dinner it was nice and intimate, not much pressure. When we started with this whole brunch thing…life changed. So much so that we are now knee deep in the embryonic stages our own eatery. What eatery? The wife and kids ask the same thing. The master plan is to start with catering to establish our brand and culinary vision. We love food, but it is not enough to love food or have defined well developed taste buds…what separates us from everyone else? Southern Gourmet. The flavors that are married and utilized in the South, juxtaposed with Gourmet concepts creates an experience in your mouth that requires the entirety of the tongue to stand up and pay attention to the food that is on the palate. So, we are here. We might as well make the best of it. After all, life is short…eat something memorable